Webinar Recap: Removing The Barriers to Voluntary Benefits

Employees are looking for more financial support than ever before. With the current economic climate and rising cost of living, 2 out of 3 employees report that their wages cannot keep up with inflation and they are living paycheck to paycheck. This stress is spilling into their work day, as financially stressed employees lose about three hours of productivity per week, which is costing employers over $4 billion dollars nationwide.

While significant compensation increases may not be feasible as employers are closely watching their bottom lines, providing competitive and meaningful benefits is a key way to supplement an employee’s total comp package. Enhancing your voluntary benefits offering can provide needed financial relief for your workforce without increasing benefits spend. This relief can significantly improve employee satisfaction and engagement, ultimately leading to increased productivity and retention.

The Barriers to Voluntary Benefits

Employers often face hurdles in managing voluntary benefits that prevent optimization. Delivering a robust voluntary benefits program typically requires managing relationships with multiple carriers and vendors. Each one brings its own integrations, billing complexities, and communications cadences. Juggling all these administrative tasks consumes substantial time for benefits teams already stretched thin.

The Solution

Consolidating your voluntary benefits under a single platform eliminates these pain points through:

1. Simplified implementation
2. Guided carrier selection
3. Single integration
4. Consolidated payroll
5. Smooth file exchanges
6. Tailored communications
7. Automated billing
8. In-house support

By leveraging a consolidated platform such as Corestream, you eliminate fragmentation and the burden that typically accompanies delivering voluntary benefits, allowing you to scale your offerings and stay ahead of your competitors.

1. Simple Implementation

The implementation process for integrating a consolidated voluntary benefits platform is straightforward compared to complex HCM system rollouts. It simply involves establishing three basic data exchange files:

• Eligibility file: Contains employee name, ID, birth date, and hire date.
• Enrollment file: Captures employee benefit selections.
• Payroll deduction file: Provides deduction amounts for enrolled employees.

Once these files are set up, the heavy lifting is done. You don't need to worry about managing integrations with multiple voluntary benefit carriers. The platform handles all of that behind the scenes. The implementation timeline is typically 90-120 days to get up and running.

2. Guided Carrier Selection

Corestream consultants will help you choose the optimal voluntary benefit products for your workforce and the best carriers for those products. They can work independently or in tandem with your broker if you have one. The goal is to match products and features to your employees' needs and demographics.

The platform leverages existing relationships with top voluntary benefit carriers to get you the best pricing. You get the buying power that comes with millions of covered lives, despite your company size. Consultants walk through all aspects of product design like coverage levels and policy options.

3. Single-Point Integration

Once implemented, the consolidated platform handles all integration complexities so you don't have to. You no longer need to manage connections with every individual voluntary benefit carrier.

Corestream has strong existing integrations with the leading insurance providers. In-house IT experts manage the bi-directional data exchanges and monitor for any issues 24/7. If any problems arise, they are handled immediately by the technical support team.

This single integration point is far simpler than trying to manage integrations between multiple vendor systems. It also provides more flexibility for future benefit changes.

4. Consolidated Payroll

Payroll integration is simplified through consolidated payroll. The platform aggregates the amounts owed across all voluntary benefits into one payroll deduction slot.

The file shows a single deduction amount per employee. You don't need visibility into what benefits the deduction relates to. The platform handles apportioning to the right carriers.

This approach minimizes your administrative workload related to voluntary benefits. You also avoid headaches when benefit offerings change, as it won't impact payroll. The consolidated deduction process remains the same.

5. Smooth File Exchanges

Ongoing data exchange processes are established during implementation based on your preferences. This includes eligibility file refreshes and any other relevant data transfers.

The platform is designed to support seamless interchanges through automation. Exchanges can occur daily, weekly, or at any interval you desire. Corestream manages the processes end-to-end. Any troubleshooting or adjustments needed happen on the backend without having to involve your team.

By removing yourself from managing these exchanges, you avoid headaches related to missing or inaccurate data. Corestream assumes that responsibility, taking it off your plate and allowing you to focus on other priorities.

6. Tailored Communications

Strategic communications are crucial for driving voluntary benefit engagement. The platform provides tailored messaging aimed at the right employees based on current lifestyle, needs, and other benefit enrollments.

During implementation, the Corestream will collaborate with your team to understand your existing communication channels, styles, and frequency. This ensures messaging integrates with your broader HR programs.

The system tracks employee engagement levels and adapts content accordingly. Lower-interest employees get fewer messages to avoid irritation. Higher engaged employees receive more education to drive enrollmen based on engagement, actions, and life events.

The goal is to create awareness and education so that employees can come to the portal and make the most informed decisions. Communication strategies are constantly refined based on data and feedback.

7. Automated Billing

Corestream administers all aspects of billing and payroll deductions, eliminating traditional voluntary benefit headaches.

The single deduction file simplifies your payroll process. From there, the system handles:

- Ensuring deduction totals match enrollments

- Resolving any carrier discrepancies

- Managing additions or cancellations

- Providing regular reconciliation

Any adjustments needed are executed by Corestream in the background. The process is automated, avoiding manual intervention on your part. This saves your team substantial time while providing accuracy.

8. In-House Customer Care

Having knowledgeable customer care specialists available is crucial for resolving employee questions quickly. Corestream’s in-house customer care team handles all initial inquiries without routing to carriers. Concerns are addressed via phone, email, web chat, and HR tickets.

With dedicated staff, most issues can be resolved in 24-48 hours, many in just one call. Having customer support in-house, versus third-party outsourcing, ensures continuity and accountability. Employees also appreciate communicating directly with their employer's vendor partner rather than the wait and nuisance associated with carrier support.

Conclusion

Streamlining voluntary benefits administration through a consolidated platform leads to tangible results for employers:

Time savings: By automating processes, benefits teams regain capacity to focus on the most pressing initiatives.

Increased engagement: Relevant, tailored communications and a guided enrollment experience drive 30% higher voluntary benefit engagement

Enhanced financial wellness: Employees save money by enrolling in discounted voluntary benefits through Corestream, to the tune of an average of $1200 per year

Higher retention: According to a study with Duke University, employees enrolled in voluntary benefits on Corestream stay with their employer twice as long - 6 years on average versus 3 years for those employees who do not partake.

Improved productivity: Financially relieved employees are less stressed and more focused at work, resulting in three more hours of productivity per week.

Whether you haven’t started your voluntary benefits journey due to a lack of time and resources, or you’re offing voluntary benefits today but have not been able to scale the programs due to administrative barriers, please feel free to book a consultation with Corestream below and we would be happy to walk you through how we can help!

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